Thousands of students gathered Wednesday night in State College to protest the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno.

Shortly after announcement of Paterno's dismissal from the program at 7 p.m. Wednesday, students took to the streets on campus and downtown and rallied in support of Paterno.

Students chanted, "We want Joe back!" and "One more game!" overnight into Thursday.

More than 100 police and state troopers were present wearing riot gear and carrying pepper spray.

"The cops started coming in and dispersing us. We started climbing trees, rooftops and getting a little rowdy," Brian Blickley, a Junior at Penn State told ATVN.

The protests soon turned violent as Blickley says police used tear gas and that he "saw students knocking over a news van."

Witnesses say bottles and rocks were thrown, lampposts were knocked down and the media van that was flipped over had its windows kicked out.

Paterno, a legendary figure in college sports was fired amidst the child abuse scandal and cover-up involving a former assitant coach. The university's board of trustees fired Paterno and Penn State University President Graham Spanier late on Wednesday.

Tom Bradley, currently the defensive coordinator, will take over as interim head coach of the Nittany Lions, starting with Saturday's final home game of the season against the University of Nebraska.